ELECTRICAL TERMINAL
An electrical terminal includes a contact portion having a contact portion base with at least three sides forming a generally polyhedron structure. At least one contact arm extends from at least some of the sides, and are arranged to receive a mating electrical component. A spring arrangement includes a plurality of spring arms extending from a spring base. Each of the spring arms includes a spring head in contact with at least one respective contact arm near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward a central axis of the terminal. The spring base includes a support structure configured to support the mating electrical component.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61/705,830 filed 26 Sep. 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to an electrical terminal.
BACKGROUNDElectrical terminals are known to have various configurations. Examples of electrical terminals are described in the following patents and patent applications: U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,058, U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,040, DE10019241, U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,599, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,972, U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,713, U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,379, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,230, U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,379, WO8905531, and US20090085712. With the increased use of round and square pins to make electrical connections—as opposed to flat blades—a need exists for an electrical terminal that can receive such pins, and which can handle the higher current loads found in many modern applications, as well as maintain required normal force over many insertions and removals of the mating pins.
SUMMARYAt least some embodiments of the invention include an electrical terminal including a contact portion having a contact portion base with a plurality of sides and forming a polyhedron structure. The contact portion further includes a plurality of contact arms, at least one of the contact arms extending from a respective one of at least two of the sides. The contact arms being arranged to receive a mating electrical component to contact each of the contact arms at a distal portion of the mating electrical component. A spring arrangement includes a spring base and a plurality of spring arms extending therefrom. Each of the spring arms contacts at least one of the contact arms near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward a central axis of the contact portion. The spring base is disposed toward a proximal end of the contact portion and includes an aperture for receiving the mating electrical component therethrough. The aperture is sized such that a proximal portion of the mating electrical component is supported by the spring base.
At least some embodiments of the invention include an electrical terminal including a contact portion having a contact portion base with a plurality of sides and forming a polyhedron structure having a central axis. The contact portion further includes a plurality of contact arms, at least one of the contact arms extending from a respective one of at least two of the sides. The contact arms are arranged to receive a mating electrical component to contact each of the contact arms at a distal portion of the mating electrical component. A spring arrangement includes a spring base disposed within the contact portion and toward a proximal end thereof. The spring arrangement further includes a plurality of spring arms extending therefrom, each of the spring arms contacting at least one of the contact arms near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward the central axis of the contact portion. The spring base includes a support structure for supporting a proximal portion of the mating electrical component.
At least some embodiments of the invention include an electrical terminal including a contact portion having a plurality of contact arms arranged to receive a mating electrical component and support the mating electrical component at a distal portion thereof. A spring arrangement includes a spring base disposed within the contact portion and toward a proximal end thereof. The spring base includes a support structure for supporting a proximal portion of the mating electrical component.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
The terminal 10 also includes a spring arrangement 30 that includes four spring arms 32, 34, 36, 38. Each of the spring arms 32, 34, 36, 38 has a respective spring body 40, 42, 44, 46 disposed along a central portion of a respective pair of the contact arms 22, 24, 26, 28. Each of the spring arms 32, 34, 36, 38 also includes a respective spring head 50, 52, 54, 56 in contact with a respective pair of the contact arms 22, 24, 26, 28 near a distal end 58 of the contact portion 12. The spring heads 50, 52, 54, 56 apply a force to the respective pair of contact arms 22, 24, 26, 28 in a direction that is toward an opposite pair of the contact arms—e.g., the spring head 56 applies a force to the contact arms 28 in a direction toward the opposite pair of contact arms 24; similarly, the contact head 34 applies a force to the contact arms 24 in a direction toward the opposite pair of contact arms 28. As explained in more detail below, the configuration of the spring arrangement, and in particular the contact of the spring heads to the respective pairs of contact arms, increases the normal force that will be applied to a mating electrical component, such as a pin.
Although the embodiment shown in
A terminal, such as the terminal 10 may be effective for use in high current applications, where a soft copper conductor may lose its ability to apply a normal force in the presence of the potentially high heat associated with some high current applications. To help avoid this problem, some prior art electrical terminals use a copper or other metal alloy that may have better high-temperature properties; however, this is often to the detriment of the conductivity which may be better with a more pure copper or with a softer copper or other metal alloy. In the electrical terminal shown in
Although the tension applied to the contact arms 22, 24, 26, 28 by the spring heads 50, 52, 54, 56 would usually be adequate to keep the components in their relative orientations, the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
Although only one of the contact arms 28 is shown in
The spring heads 106, 108, 110, 112 each contact a respective one of the contact arms 88, 90, 92, 94 near a distal end 114 of the contact portion 76 and apply a force in a direction toward an opposite one of the contact arms 88, 90, 92, 94. More generally, each of the spring heads 106, 108, 110, 112 applies a force to a respective one of the contact arms 88, 90, 92, 94 in a direction toward a central axis 115 of the contact portion 76. Like the terminal 10 shown in
As described above, an aperture, such as the aperture 120, need not be round, but can be configured to accommodate mating electrical components of different cross-sectional shape, such as a square pin. Similar to the terminal 10 shown in
As described above, a terminal, such as the terminal 126, may be particularly well-suited to high-current, high-temperature applications where the spring arrangement 130 is able to maintain its strength. In these types of applications, it is also desirable to have other portions of the terminal configured to better handle the high-current, high-temperature environment. As shown in
Having a contact portion with a locking feature, such as the contact portion 172 having the locking feature 184, helps to increase the strength of the terminal 170 by eliminating any open channels running a full length of the sides 186, 188, 190, 192, 194, 196, 198, 200 formed when the contact portion is folded into a rectangular or other polyhedron shape, such as the octagonal shape shown in
Alternatively, electrical terminals in accordance with embodiments of the present invention may have a locking feature that does not include interconnecting geometric shapes. For example, a locking feature may be defined by the addition of a material or by a process for connecting the sides together. For example, the side 162 of the contact portion 146 shown in
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
Claims
1. An electrical terminal comprising:
- a contact portion including a contact portion base having a plurality of sides and forming a polyhedron structure, the contact portion further including a plurality of contact arms, at least one of the contact arms extending from a respective one of at least two of the sides, the contact arms being arranged to receive a mating electrical component to contact each of the contact arms at a distal portion of the mating electrical component; and
- a spring arrangement including a spring base and a plurality of spring arms extending therefrom, each of the spring arms contacting at least one of the contact arms near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward a central axis of the contact portion, the spring base being disposed toward a proximal end of the contact portion and including an aperture for receiving the mating electrical component therethrough and sized such that a proximal portion of the mating electrical component is supported by the spring base.
2. The electrical terminal of claim 1, wherein the spring base further includes a neck disposed around the aperture such that the neck provides support for the mating electrical component received by the aperture.
3. The electrical terminal of claim 1, wherein the contact portion further includes a platform disposed at a proximal end of the contact portion and configured to receive an electrical component, the platform including a plurality of layers of material.
4. The electrical terminal of claim 3, wherein the platform includes a plurality of sides extending therefrom.
5. The electrical terminal of claim 3, wherein at least some of the layers of material of the platform comprise a portion at least one of the sides of the contact portion.
6. The electrical terminal of claim 5, wherein the platform includes four layers of material comprising a portion of four sides of the contact portion.
7. The electrical terminal of claim 1, wherein the contact portion includes a locking feature connecting the sides of the contact portion together and eliminating any open channels running a full length of the sides.
8. An electrical terminal comprising:
- a contact portion including a contact portion base having a plurality of sides and forming a polyhedron structure having a central axis, the contact portion further including a plurality of contact arms, at least one of the contact arms extending from a respective one of at least two of the sides, the contact arms being arranged to receive a mating electrical component to contact each of the contact arms at a distal portion of the mating electrical component; and
- a spring arrangement including a spring base disposed within the contact portion and toward a proximal end thereof, the spring arrangement further including a plurality of spring arms extending therefrom, each of the spring arms contacting at least one of the contact arms near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward the central axis of the contact portion, the spring base including a support structure for supporting a proximal portion of the mating electrical component.
9. The electrical terminal of claim 8, wherein the support structure includes an aperture disposed through the spring base for receiving the proximal portion of the mating electrical component therein, the aperture being sized such that the proximal portion of the mating electrical component is supported by the spring base.
10. The electrical terminal of claim 9, wherein the spring base further includes a neck disposed around the aperture such that the neck provides support for the mating electrical component received by the aperture.
11. The electrical terminal of claim 8, wherein the contact portion further includes a platform disposed at a proximal end of the contact portion and configured to receive an electrical component, the platform including a plurality of layers of material.
12. The electrical terminal of claim 11, wherein at least some of the layers of material of the platform comprise a portion at least one of the sides of the contact portion.
13. The electrical terminal of claim 12, wherein the platform includes four layers of material comprising a portion of four sides of the contact portion.
14. The electrical terminal of claim 11, wherein the platform includes a plurality of sides extending therefrom.
15. The electrical terminal of claim 8, wherein the contact portion includes a locking feature connecting the sides of the contact portion together and eliminating any open channels running a full length of the sides.
16. An electrical terminal comprising:
- a contact portion including a plurality of contact arms arranged to receive a mating electrical component and support the mating electrical component at a distal portion thereof; and
- a spring arrangement including a spring base disposed within the contact portion and toward a proximal end thereof, the spring base including a support structure for supporting a proximal portion of the mating electrical component.
17. The electrical terminal of claim 16, wherein the spring arrangement further includes a plurality of spring arms extending therefrom, each of the spring arms contacting at least one of the contact arms near a distal end of the contact portion for applying a force thereto in a direction toward a central axis of the contact portion.
18. The electrical terminal of claim 16, wherein the support structure includes an aperture disposed through the spring base for receiving the proximal portion of the mating electrical component therein, the aperture being sized such that the proximal portion of the mating electrical component is supported by the spring base.
19. The electrical terminal of claim 18, wherein the spring base further includes a neck disposed around the aperture such that the neck provides support for the mating electrical component received by the aperture.
20. The electrical terminal of claim 16, wherein the contact portion includes a locking feature connecting sides of the contact portion together and eliminating any open channels running a full length of the sides.
Type: Application
Filed: May 29, 2013
Publication Date: Mar 27, 2014
Patent Grant number: 8992270
Applicant: LEAR CORPORATION (Southfield, MI)
Inventors: Michael Glick (Farmington Hills, MI), Slobodan Pavlovic (Novi, MI), Tulasi Sadras-Ravindra (Canton, MI)
Application Number: 13/904,195
International Classification: H01R 13/18 (20060101);